Into Utgard
by Farbautidottir
Summary: A teaser for The Dead Court, this snippet is set a little over a year after TDW ends. Within The Dead Court, this snippet begins just after Loki's new identity has just been discovered and Jane becomes caught up in his schemes of escape.


Jane awoke in a shiver. Blinking to, she realized she was in motion and under a sky of darkness. An eerie glowing white sphere in the distance—almost like a moon, but not quite—provided enough light for her to see she was not alone. As she stirred, the flash of green fabric caught her eye.

_Loki._

Anger washed over her as she moved to stand in the flying boat.

"Careful," Loki's voice wrapped around the word.

Jane shot him a glare. He met her eyes with a wide grin set into his own, the lines crinkling around their sockets. She wanted to look fierce and strong, but could not muster it in this cold.

His lies. His deceit. All those days spent with Odin that she had relished. Odin had approved and accepted her. She was part of a family again, no longer the orphan she'd been for so long. All of that had just been another lie, another disappointment on a long list. She crossed out the words "Odin's love" from her mental notebook. It had always been Loki. It had always been lies.

"Where are we?" she finally asked. It came out weaker than she'd intended because her teeth were chattering so hard the words were jagged.

"Jötunheim," Loki smiled. "My birthplace."

"You could have at least brought me a coat." Jane managed.

She knew about all Jötunheim, not just from Thor's stories, but from her reading in the æsir library. The history was not all bad and in fact the realm was home to a critical energy export called orka. It was not clearly stated, as the Æsir's written history of the Jötnar was rather biased and thus incomplete, but based on her cross-referencing Jane assumed orka to be the source of what eventually came to form the tesseract.

She shuddered thinking of that relic's power, so similar to the all consuming nature of the æther. It had been more than a year since the æther had possessed her, but she could not fully shake its horrors. That desire for darkness was like no emotion she'd had before.

She was about to ask Loki what they were doing in Jötunheim when she felt something warm being wrapped around her. She looked down to find a vivid green parka surrounding her. She slipped her arms into the sleeves and began to zip it up.

"Let it never be said that Loki is not a true gentleman." He purred right next to her ear.

A slow tingle slid down Jane's spine and she turned to him, their faces only inches apart.

"Would a true gentleman kidnap a lady?"

Loki laughed.

"Oh, sweet Jane, this is hardly a kidnapping."

"Oh?" she cocked her head. If he only meant to kill her, she would already be dead. "Then what exactly is it?"

"All part of the plane, Jane Foster."

"Oh good, and here I was thinking this was all fly-by-night meets whistle stop tour of the realms." She muttered. The parka had warmed her to the core and as Loki erupted into laughter she noticed he was no longer wearing his cloak.

"Oh, I do like you, Jane." He said. "You have always been my favorite of Thor's consorts."

Jane winced at the word. Loki betrayed no indication that he saw her do so, but she knew he had. As Loki started to land the boat, she finally took in her full surroundings.

The books hadn't done Jötunheim justice. It was terrifyingly beautiful, like the depths of a cave. She could hardly tell where the pillars of jagged rock began and ended, like monstrous versions of stalagmites and stalactites.

"It's so beautiful." Jane said the thought out loud without really meaning to.

"Not exactly Asgard." Loki said as he parked the flying boat on a glacial valley.

"No, I'm not being sarcastic." Jane said and looked at him.

He held her gaze a moment and his features softened. Finally he uttered, "You should wear green more often, Jane. It suits you."

"Don't plan on killing me then?"

Loki helped her out of the boat, conjuring snow boots onto her feet before saying, "Why would I kill the thing Thor holds most dear? What a waste of an opportunity."

She dropped his hand at this comment and shoved it into the parka's deep pockets.

"Aren't you cold?" she asked him.

"Jane, you're too smart to ask that." Was his only response before he began walking.

Jane didn't follow him. Thirty paces away he spun to face her.

"Aren't you coming?" he called. Suddenly his voice was in her ear whispering, "Or are you going to stay here to freeze to death without my magic to keep you warm?"

Jane smacked the illusion next to her and yelled out, "Heimdall! Open the bridge!"

"Don't waste your meager stores of energy." Loki called from his actual spot, thirty paces away. "You think I could sneak us out without a cloaking device?"

Jane pulled up her hood and marched towards him. All her thoughts were focused on Heimdall. He would be able to hear her thoughts if those too were not cloaked. She would not rely on Loki's words. They were all lies.

"Really, Jane," Loki began once she'd caught up to him. "You look quite ravishing in green."

"Shut up." Jane said.

"As you wish, my lady." He exaggerated. "But you aren't actually a lady, are you? Merely a mortal."

Jane sniffed.

"A mortal girl." He continued. "Hardly what an Æsir could call a lady."

"And you are hardly anyone could call an Æsir." Jane said simply. "You would be dead if Thor didn't bother to care for you."

"I was dead, Jane." Loki replied, seemingly unaffected by her words. She knew that he was not though.

"Why couldn't you stay that way then?" she asked.

"You found me. You alone are to blame for that." He said. "I should've cloaked your mind from the beginning."

"Heimdall would've noticed."

"The old oaf? I think not. I blind him all too easily."

"How?" Jane asked.

Loki stopped walking and took Jane's arm. She recoiled automatically and, expecting as much, he tightened his grip and pulled her to him. _How easily she folded into his arms._ The thought passed through both of their minds for a flicker of time, a Midgardian heartbeat, before Loki refocused his stare.

"That is why I brought you here." He said quietly.

"To blind Heimdall?"

He merely stared at her and his earlier words 'You are too smart to ask that' repeated in her head. After a moment she worked it out. He was going to share his magic with her.

"Like with Frigga?" she said. Her breath was a cloud as her heart raced with this proposal. She felt so warm with excitement that she might even need to lose the parka.

"You're flush." Loki frowned and waved his hand. The inside of the parka cooled some. "Better?"

"Yes," Jane said. "How do you do it?"

"Frigga taught me as a boy. I hated being out of doors, preferred learning and improving the mind to frivolous play." He began. "She wanted to give me a way to fit in, but still be myself. I would be hidden away reading while my illusion was off with Thor and Sif and the others."

"That's so lucky." Jane said. "I wish I had that growing up."

"Yes, well..." Loki started then paused for a moment before asking, "Is that something you still wish?"

"To learn this magic?" she clarified. "Of course! Who wouldn't want this?"

"There are many."

"Think of all I could learn. To observe my own experience would be the ultimate in experiment. Think of the data possibilities!"

Loki smiled, amused by her excitement and the easy success of his own plotting. _The perfect bait_, he thought.

"Though, being too close to something could be...a little Bruce Banner-esque." Jane frowned.

"Banner?" Loki frowned too, remembering the beating the man—if he could even be referenced as such—gave him on Midgard. He shook his head and said, "You could never become like him. He is a foolish beast."

Jane shot him a look and said, "He's a colleague! Besides, you're not really one to talk."

"How am I foolish?" Loki protested.

Jane smiled that he accepted 'beast' as a descriptor.

"Where are we going?" she asked. "Or did you just want to give me a spin down memory lane before dangling this carrot?"

Loki wondered briefly if she saw through his plan, but decided to restart their journey. It was too complex a plan, even for her quick mind.

"We're going to visit my mother." He said.

"Your mother died." Jane said bluntly. She'd meant to be softer about it, but she was too shocked. If Loki was alive after she had quite clearly seen him die, and Frigga taught Loki his magic, was there hope for Frigga?

"Don't be foolish, Jane." Loki spat. "My mother Nál rules Jötunheim now that Laufey is dead."

"Because _you_ killed him," Jane murmured almost silently to herself.

"I can hear a much lower range than you. Perhaps Thor did not share an understanding of this trait with you?"

Jane blushed before saying, "Or perhaps it's a jötunn-specific trait."

"I admire your ability to lie by appearing optimistic, Jane." Loki laughed. "Unfortunately we are both correct and your late night secrets with Thor are hardly that."

"Well, you were the one listening!"

"All of Asgard could hear, I believe. The king's chambers have substantial soundproofing, and I still heard." Loki smirked. "You are quite loud."

Jane was too mortified to respond and they walked in silence for some time before approaching an enormous cliff face.

"Does everyone live inside there?" Jane asked.

"Your books didn't mention?"

"You know they didn't."

"Could you smell me on the pages?" he teased.

"Yes, they reeked of freezer burn."

Loki chuckled. "I have no idea what that means, but I'll safely assume it was a Midgardian insult. You are so full of them, Jane."

_I know what you're full of,_ Jane thought angrily.

"Now what?" she said after they stood there a few minutes with nothing happening.

"We cannot simply walk into the gates of Utgard. We must wait to be admitted." Loki said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, it wasn't in your plan to send word ahead of time?"

"Your mockery is only increasing my affection for you, Jane. You're like a fantastic pet! I do see why Thor keeps you around."

Jane became aware she was seething and forced herself to release the emotion. If she lived through this, she could be back in Thor's protection and Loki securely imprisoned. Odin may even execute him this time. Thor had implied quite transparently that Frigga was the only reason Loki was kept alive before.

Of course, this hinged on if they could even find Odin. Jane wondered how far Loki's magic could reach.

A cold hand took hers, startling her out of this thought process, and she looked down to see Loki pulling her forward.

"They have let us in. Come, Jane."

She looked up to see the cliff face gone, an opening to a cavernous hall in its place. She had no choice but to be pulled inside by Loki.

Jötnar began to emerge from the shadows, taking in the foreign visitors with somewhat passive gazes through their vivid red eyes. Their size made even Loki, who towered over her, look like the runt in a litter. There were no fires, the main weakness of their race, but white orbs hung in the air to light the entire space. They were miniature versions of the moonlike light source outside. This was the orka, Jane realized. It was still too dark for her to see much more than the path around them and the closest Jötnar.

"Loki Laufeyson!" A stony voice said from the darkness.

The Frost Giantess emerged to reveal her immense stature. Jane's hand tightened around Loki's in fear and it wasn't until that moment she even realized their hands were still joined. Thor had shown her many unbelievable things in many realms, but nothing prepared her for this. Loki dropped her hand in order to extend out both of his. A gesture of good faith, she had read. Not so different from Earth culture.

"Nál!" Loki exalted. "An honor as always."

Jane wondered if Nál knew truly who Loki was in relation to her, to Laufey.

"You bring a mortal?" Nál asked.

"A gift," Loki replied. "She belongs to Thor Odinson."

Jane swallowed. This did not sound like the type of plan she would make it out of alive.

"You bring me Jane Foster?" Nál asked.

Jane looked at Loki for his reaction, but he gave nothing away. _How the hell does she know who I am? _Jane wondered.

"I am pleased you know of her." Loki replied.

"She is unique." Nál stated.

"Indeed," Loki smiled and glanced at Jane. His hand lightly grazed her chin making her realize her jaw had gone slack and she was gaping.

"Seize her!" Nál commanded.

Loki's arm went around Jane's torso, his hand covering her heart. It happened so quickly that she didn't immediately process he was essentially coping a feel. She knew they couldn't pierce through his skin and that he was protecting her, but still. In the hard hold of his arm, she was unable to move.

"Just a moment," Loki said calmly. "I don't give her freely. There is an exchange to be had."

"You come here unannounced and uninvited at a time when it is forbidden to enter Jötunheim." Nál leaned forward and Jane shuddered at the blood red of her eyes. "What room do you have to bargain, half-god?"

"I have kept the peace intact, Nál." Loki's voice held a hint of menace. "I have ruled the Nine Realms in peace for over a year under guise of Odin. I forbade entrance by all to Jötunheim other than to your ports. Your economy is booming, thanks to me. Even our unique friend here, Jane Foster, indulges in your orka now and then. You should be begging _my_ favor, Nál."

Jane counted 312 seconds before Nál replied, "What is your bargain?"

"I will give you adequate time to study Jane if in exchange you make her Jötunn."

"What?" Jane exclaimed.

"I accept." Nál said.

"No!" Jane yelled. Loki released her and the guards seized her easily. "You promised me, Loki! You promised!"

"I am keeping that promise!" he boomed at her.

He watched her continue to resist the Jötnar in vain until finally she went limp and fixed an icy glare on him.

"I will never forgive you." She whispered.

Loki made no response, but she knew he had heard her.


End file.
